


Blind

by OlegGunnarsson



Series: Data Points [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Blindness, Gen, Nonromantic, Sanctuary Hills, Sunsets, all the feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 13:13:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8103814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlegGunnarsson/pseuds/OlegGunnarsson
Summary: Nick and Curie help each other see.





	

More and more, Nick Valentine found himself enjoying his time in Sanctuary Hills. 

According to what memories he had, the original Nick Valentine had enjoyed living in Boston proper. He had been a big city guy. He never would have considered moving to the Sanctuary Hills neighborhood - it was too far from the case, too far from the action.

A ramshackle handmade dormitory filled with settlers would not have appealed to him either. 

Nora and Preston had known what they were doing when they built the massive tower. Four stories high, with balconies on each floor and plenty of living space for their growing settlement. In a pinch, if the walls and the turrets failed them, the entire population could hold that tower for days against anything short of mini nukes. 

The fact that it had a magnificent view of the surrounding countryside was just a bonus.

Nick walked up the stairs, nodding greetings to settlers as he passed. On the third floor, he stopped and grabbed a cup of coffee.

Nora had not spent much time worrying about luxuries, but coffee was non-negotiable. She had found a working luxobrew somewhere, and had figured a way to use cloth for filters. Now all she needed was coffee - which Blake Abernathy was only too happy to help with, once the General agreed to help protect his farm.

Nick didn't miss drinking coffee. But he did appreciate how strong the habit could be. Nora had said much the same about his smoking. 

The fourth floor of the tower was no penthouse, but three sides were open to the sky. To the south, you could defend the Red Rocket with a good sniper rifle - but for a few trees, the view was clear. To the west, you could see over the remaining homes of Sanctuary Hills, with clear shots at the bridge and the river. 

To the north, you could see far enough to guard the entrance to Vault 111. Stripped of many of its resources, it was now quite possibly the world's largest mausoleum. It's sole occupant frozen and preserved, while his beloved widow (and her new family) stood watch.

They had buried the other unfortunate vault-dwellers in a clearing to the east. Nora had said once, long ago in the bowels of Fort Hagen, that she couldn't bury Nate until she knew what had happened to their son.

When that day came, Nick had promised, he would help her.

Nick walked out into the open. It was an early spring evening, with just a slight breeze. It would still be cold once darkness fell, which didn't bother him of course.

For his companion, however...

_____

"You might need this." He said as he walked to the edge of the balcony. The lone woman there turned, smiling when she saw who had joined her. 

"Merci, Monsieur Valentine." Curie said, taking the cup. Tonight, she was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, and looked just like any other settler, really. To this she had added a leather jacket - which suited her, somehow, even though she had never met the Atom Cats. 

Nick took the seat next to her, facing west. It was about 6:00 or so. The sun was just starting to approach the trees. 

Curie had been a synth for three weeks now. Once Dr. Amari had completed the transfer, she went with Nora as they made their way north. She had worried that she would be a burden during battles with Raiders, but it turns out that she was a crack shot with a long rifle. 

Nick saw that she had a sniper rifle next to her, easily in reach. He nodded to it. "Two days back and they already have you on watch, do they? So much for taking it easy." 

Curie smiled again. "I asked for the duty, Monsieur. Madame and I both thought that I would need much training before I could shoot correctly, with the required accuracy." 

She leaned over to Nick. "But I cheat, you see." Theatrically, she places a finger over her mouth and whispers  _shhhhhh._

Nick chuckled at her very human gesture. "No one's keeping score. And as long as you can handle yourself, there is no cheating." He tilts his head, thoughtfully. "Of course, if you told me your secret it would be safe with me."

"But of course - is so simple. I just forget that I am a woman." Nick's face must have shown his surprise, for Curie laughed and continued. "When I was a robot, I had algorithms and subroutines for targeting hostiles in combat. Now I am a synth, and it seems those algorithms survived the transfer as reflexes and instinct."

Even now, as she sat on the roof and enjoyed the view, her sniper rifle was never out of arm's reach. She reached over and patted it lightly. Nick could see where Nora had upgraded it, probably with curie's scientific input. He would lay even money that Curie was now the best sniper they had.

"As a robot, I never came up this high. Now, I wanted to see what the fuss was all about."

Nick could appreciate that. This was his favorite spot in the settlement as well. 

They sat quietly for a time, listening to the breeze and the sounds of the workday's end. At 7, almost on the dot, Nick heard Curie sigh softly.

"How do you see, Monsieur Valentine?" Curie asked. Nick could tell when she was collecting scientific data for research, and when she was asking for herself. This was the latter.

Nick did not turn to look at her as he replied. His attention was to the west, and - as he suspected - so was hers.

"I have memories from before. Not that many, but some. And when I see them in my mind, they look just like what I see now. Light, color, all that jazz." 

Unbidden, a memory surfaced in his mind. Golden hair, a laugh. A smile. He cherished it briefly, then let it pass. Back it went, with his other memories of Jenny.

"I don't know what the Institute was trying to do when it built this body," he continued, softly. "but my eyesight is close enough to human that I can't tell the difference."

Curie nodded. "As I hoped."

At this, Nick turned to her. Her focus remained on the hills to the west, as if they would disappear if she looked away. The red sunlight washed across her face.

Then he got it. Turning back to the sunset, he decided not to ruin the moment with chat. Curie noticed his glance, and decided to explain. She could say these things without diverting her attention. She hoped.

"When I was a robot," she started, "I had three cameras and a dozen sensors for eyes. If a woman had an irregular heartbeat, or a child had a fever, I would know with a glance."

She waved her hand in front of her. "By any measure, I saw more than any human could. My vision collected so much more raw data, and my core processors could interpret that data faster than any human."

With a sad sigh, she leaned forward. The sun has reached the top of the hill, now, and the trees created rays of Auburn and red and gold as the sunset filtered through them. In the sky, what few clouds there were collected every hue.

"But now I have eyes that match what a human woman would see. I have only two of them. No external data, no science, no processors to interpret what they see." Curie's voice was barely a whisper now. Nick saw a single tear roll down her cheek. She did not bother with it.

"Madame said I had not lived until I saw a sunset. She said that she and her husband picked their house here in part because of the sunlight in the evenings."

"And now I see it. And I know that I was truly blind."

Nick said nothing. He reached out and patted her shoulder, gently, with his left hand. She reached up and gave his hand a squeeze. 

The sun set behind the hills at 7:26 pm.

Now Curie wiped the tears from her face, then looked to Nick. "Pardon, monsieur..." she said.

"Nothing to be sorry about." Nick said. "Thank you for letting me share the moment."

At that, Curie smiled. 

Nick raised a glass he was not holding, as if to toast her. She laughed and raised her coffee mug.

"Here's to the first day of the rest of your life, Mademoiselle Curie."

 


End file.
